


Heathen(s)

by gipsydanger



Category: Suicide Squad (2016)
Genre: (also not exactly but the characters are so OOC it's ridiculous), (i do and it is), (i feel like it's OOC but who knows really), Fluff, Humour, M/M, OOC, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-07 22:11:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7731658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gipsydanger/pseuds/gipsydanger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now that June's gone, Rick has to find comfort in other things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rick/June is here out of respect for Moone because she's great and I love her, but chemistry of Flagshot is unbelievable as well as undeniable.

Warm hand lay on his shoulder. It was still slightly trembling. Of course it was.

"I'm sorry, I really am."

Rick looked up at June and squeezed her fingers tenderly.

"You shouldn't be. The shit you went through was ugly, I get it, really. I'm not mad or anything. I do understand."

"I wish things were different."

He smiled sadly. He did, too.

\---

It's been three weeks since the woman Richard Flag loved had left him. Not him, he reminded himself. Everything that happened to her for the past year. He just so happened to be a part of all that. The realization didn't soothe the aching in his chest, but that way he wouldn't let himself forget that it was for her sake. June Moone went through hell and came back, and Rick couldn't live with himself if he became a ghost of that terror, hunting her with his mere presence. He was a soldier and he knew what being hunted by your past felt like.

There were things that did help to numb the ache. He was working: doing his job, going to the gym and exercising until the black spots blocked the view, visiting the Squad once in a while. The last part didn't make much sense. Yes, he was somewhat of a supervisor of the group, but they still were prisoners with more than a few centuries of sentencing shared among them and technically there was no need to come and give motivating speeches and what have you. But as fiercely as he argued with Deadshot on how different they were in their very core, he not so much believed in this anymore. He had a chance to peek inside what they were like as people, with their rises and falls and tragedies. None of them were saints. None of them were innocent or misunderstood in their actions. They had the bad in them, each of them knew their sins, and neither was in need of forgiveness or pity from the rest of the world. But they had their values and beliefs and principles, somehow fucked up, yet still very human.

Rick knew what being a good soldier meant. He couldn't tell when exactly did this happen, but the knowledge came and stayed. He killed people. Of course, when there's an attack you fight back. He killed people on command. Sure, there are superiors who sit higher and see farther and they get the whole picture, so no command is mindless or unjustified. But being a good soldier meant turning your common sense the fuck off, and following commands not doubting it for a second. Not thinking about why you attack instead of fighting back, or what is the reasoning behind missions involving sudden and bloody invasions. A good soldier is a thoughtless machine, and there is some fucked up irony in not using actual machines instead of human sources in military, he thinks. They want you to be a robot, but they need you to be a human.

He didn't think that working for Amanda Waller was much better or more sensible than being in the U.S. Army. The only difference was wielding more information. Not that he was sure that she shared everything she knew.

All in all, Rick Flag was as much of an underdog as his new teammates were. Society didn't want to have any affiliations with any of them, but if it was in the open with people like Harley Quinn and Floyd Lawton, there was disgusting hypocrisy with soldiers like Rick. Citizens want each of them as far away as possible from their lives, yet the demand of protection on the latter is still out there.  


At some point the thought occurred to him that the thing that kept him coming back to Belle Reve was that he found comfort in being with those people. He downed the thought with a bottle of whiskey and tried very hard not to bring it back. Ever.

He kept coming back. Harley was adorable and charming, and not that either would ever admit that, but it clearly was less of an act and more of sincere affection she felt for him. For all of the Squad, not that Rick included himself in it. 

Boomerang was mostly making dirty jokes and commented on celebrity news Flag read to him. He had no idea why Harkness took so much pleasure in listening to all this crap, but the feeling of making this pretty scary man smile was kind of uplifting. 

Croc was still menacing and grumpy, so Rick just brought him DVDs with movies that he could watch on his flatscreen, nodding goodbye when he left. 

There wasn't much talking though. They all went through some shit together, but it didn't mean they suddenly became best buddies of sorts. Though Flag treated them with respect and did everything he could to make their lives less miserable.

The talking started when he went to Deadshot. It became casual to slip Zoe's letters through the peephole, take those that Lawton wrote to her, half-heartedly tease each other (annoying the guard) and maybe slip into some serious discussion once in a while. 

Rick wasn't stupid or oblivious to believe that Ms. Waller didn't know about these talks. He wondered why she never mentioned it, but deep down he knew what this whole turning-a-blind-eye thing was about. She didn't have as much power over him as she did over Belle Reve prisoners, but it was clear for a commanding officer that there's more than one way of keeping people by your side. Although it was perplexing him why allowing those visits would keep him from leaving. The question was addressed more to Rick himself than to Amanda.  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's an unbearable amount of OOC, I'm just forewarning you.

Harley Quinn ran away a month after their first mission. It wasn't that Flag was surprised or upset - the girl knew her priorities - but it reminded him that those people were here as prisoners, and he was in fact an overseer. The thought was kind of ugly, although not new or shocking.

After four days of searching, Amanda finally called his team off. There weren't many clues, if any at all, so the briefing was in fact brief. Waller dismissed Rick's men, and they were left alone.

"We doubled the security of Belle Reve, but there's more."

Rick looked up from the report he was absentmindedly going through.

"Yes?"

"You shouldn't be visiting them for some time."

Flag looked confused.

"How's that gonna help?"

"They're forgetting their place, Rick. You're not friends, not family, but you make it feel that way for them."

"What? I'm sorry, ma'am, but that's just crap. I don't think that Belle Reve's personnel would ever let them forget who or where they are. I just make their sentencing bearable, because maybe you're not a hundred per cent on board with that thought, but they're still people."

That was harsh and unnecessary, he knew that, but couldn't stop himself. At least he managed not to raise his voice or show any emotions other than commitment to his job. Amanda was not impressed.

"I forbid you going to Belle Reve for a week. That's an order, Mr. Flag, and I expect you to follow it. Now you may go."

Rick stood up, saluted Waller and left the room.

\---

The week was dull and boring. Nothing concerning Amanda Waller’s line of work happened in the city, so all Rick had to do was show up to daily meetings and then go back to an empty flat. Having nothing to do, he rewatched his movie collection, cleaned pretty much every corner of every room, and even tried cooking for himself. It turned out to be not so bad, but he realized that there was that much he knew about preparing food. Being a soldier had its cons. 

So he decided to try a new recipe, but being used to military rations, there weren’t many dishes he burned with anticipation of trying to make himself. Then he remembered Boomerang mentioning something with pork and potatoes that his mother used to make for him on big holidays, and it didn’t sound like such a bad idea. Rick went through couple of dozens Google search results until he found a recipe that might be what Harkness was talking about.

“How hard can it be,” Flag thought to himself, scratching his cheek. 

It was in fact pretty hard, but being as stubborn as he was, Rick finished cooking and was now admiring his work. The thing looked good, smelled even more so, and turned to be the most delicious food he’s ever cooked. He mentally thanked Boomerang, but then thought that he can do more than just that.  


\---

On Monday morning Flag was flying in a chopper towards Belle Reve, carrying Zoe’s letters and a special package for the Squad. The security guard, a young woman with serious grey eyes, greeted Rick at the landing.

“Any news on Harley, sir?”

“Nothing yet, but she’ll show up eventually.”

“Of course,” said the woman. The yard was dull and dirty, but Rick’s spirits were unusually high. He thought that such a calm week was to blame, since weirdos and aliens seemed not to have any off days in Midway City and were always eager to ruin it in some way. So it felt like kind of a vacation. 

Since Flag was of higher ranks and working for some serious people close to the government, the prison personnel did not check him for any suspicious objects he might give to the inmates, but every security guard he passed eyed the package in his hands with child-like curiosity. It was always of interest among them what ‘the psychos’ might ask for and how much the organization was willing to give.

Rick went straight to the main staff room where the guards were usually getting ready for their shifts. Now there was only one man, napping on the couch. He was wearing standard grey uniform without any holsters or a bulletproof vest, which meant he was not in the rapid response team, but one of the staff members. Flag shook the man awake. 

“Hello, sir. I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need you to do something for me,” he said, handing the man the package and a fifty dollar bill.

\---

Lawton heard heavy thud of the door window opening, but didn’t turn to look. He was lying on his bed, head to the door, reading some serious looking book. Rick cleared his throat to draw Deadshot’s attention, to no effect.

“Lawton,” he said, a bit annoyed with such greeting, “I brought your daughter’s letters.”

At that Deadshot put his book down and stood up, smiling wickedly and pointing in Rick’s direction.

“That’s how you start a conversation, Flag, that’s the way!”

He rolled his eyes at that, fishing letters out of his uniform pocket. Lawton frowned.

“Do you visit Zoe in this?”

“What?”

“The uniform. Do you wear this when you go fetch the letters?”

Rick was confused at first, but then realized what the man was talking about.

“No, ‘course not. Maybe she knows what and where you are, but I’m not the one to remind a child of that solely by the way I look. No, just regular clothes.”

Deadshot then stepped closer to the door, cocked his head to the left, narrowed his eyes and looked Flag up and down, as much as the little window allowed. Rick felt his face heating up.

“Are you calculating how you’re gonna escape?” he asked just not to feel weird. 

“Nah, just wondering what you look like in ‘regular clothes’, is all.”

“You actually saw me in a suit.”

“Suits are no regular clothing, Flag.”

“Really, are…”

“…But it was a nice look, I must say.”

Rick just stared. It was a full minute of silence until Lawton burst out laughing, holding on to the door for support. 

“What is… ahaha… what is even your face… aha… good lord, Flag, your face!” 

“My face is fine…”

“Fine as hell, I’d say.”

“…And you’re being a child, Lawton. Here, your letters.” He handed envelopes through the hole. “Do you have anything for Zoe?”

Deadshot stopped laughing and just smiled widely, obviously still amused.

“Yeah, sure, Colonel, wait a sec.” He took an envelope from under the mattress and gave it to Rick. “Thanks.”

“Good day,” he mumbled and turned to leave, his cheek are still slightly hot. 

“What’s up with the acrobat girl?” he heard from behind.

“Still not a sight,” said Rick and left the corridor.

\---

Later that day Rick stopped by Amanda's office for nothing more than a judging look and a dismissal. Then he went home to change into some 'regular clothes', since he wanted to deliver Lawton's letter to Zoe as soon as possible.

It usually wasn't hard for Flag to choose what to wear. The simplicity of his wardrobe was military-like, grey and blue and black tones, where everything went with everything. It wasn't that he dressed bad. People not affiliated with work often complimented his outfits, but is was mostly due to how good clothes looked on his body than anything else.

But now he was standing in front of an open closet door, deep in thought. He wasn't particularly struggling with what to put on. The looks are not something people in military give second thoughts to. It's all about efficiency and being practical. But Deadshot's words, no matter how ridiculous, made him wonder. He looked into the mirror by the wall.

Rick Flag was tall, muscular to just the right measure, and freakishly well-built. People were willing to take him to bed, and he rarely opposed to that. There were men and women in his life, occasional sex and some pretty long relationships. But he never played the looks card. He was simply himself, and it seemed to attract people without any unnecessary tricks.

Why he was thinking about this in the first place was a pretty good question. Something to dwell on later. Now he had better things to do.

\---

"Um, hello, is Zoe home? I have a letter for her from De... Mr. Lawton."

Deadshot's ex-wife was a good-looking woman once, it was obvious. Now she was more of a shadow of her past self, tired and distinctly angry, but most of all indifferent. She didn't say anything, just went into the house, calling her daughter's name.

Zoe greeted Rick in earnest, waving and smiling.

"What do you got for me, Mr. Rick?"

"Let's see," he said, making it look like he was going through his pockets with some serious deliberation. "Aha, here's something."

He handed her an envelope with 'Zoe' scribbled on it.

"Thank you!" she screamed happily, hugging the paper to her chest.

"You're welcome," said Rick with a smile and was about to leave when she grabbed him by the sleeve.

"Mr. Rick, are you good at algebra?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went to see the movie again today and yes, Rick's not wearing a suit at the end, I'm just inattentive, sorry for that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one's even more OOC, can you believe it? Also I suck in writing accents, so.

Next time Flag decided to fly to by Belle Reve on Saturday. The weather was fine, all clear sky and sunshine, which had some effect on the staff. There were way less grumpy people than usual, one of the janitors actually singing something under his breath. Rick felt pretty good too. He first went to Boomerang, carrying a newspaper with some fresh gossip on who divorces whom and why.

"Hey, Harkness. Got you some yellow pages, wanna listen?"

"Sure thing, mate, but tell me something first. The delicious roasted pork that I got this Monday, were that you?"

Flag was slightly embarrassed. He didn't think the man would bring that up.

"Um, kinda. I just thought that you'd like it, y'know, for a change. Was it good?"

Harkness laughed in earnest.

"It was grand, man, 'm tellin' ye!"

"Great, that's great! I wasn't sure the recipe was right, and I didn't have any butter so..."

"Wait, Flag. So you're tellin' me that you cooked it? With your own two hands? Yourself?"

"I... What? I mean, I did, but, um, is it, like, a big deal?"

Now Boomerang was so ecstatic that his laughter could be heard from outside.

"Colonel Flag, you are quite a catch! Seriously, mate, that pork was something, thanks for doin' that, really, I appreciate."

"Don't sweat it, you saved the world, that's the least I could do."

"Right, right. So, how's the Luthor Corp doing nowadays?"

\---

Deadshot was sitting on his bed, doing pretty much nothing else. Rick lowered the peephole panel and looked inside the cell. 

“Lawton.”

“Here comes the mailman!”

Flag rolled his eyes at that, while Deadshot stood up and walked to the door, smiling.

“Zoe sends her regards,” Rick said, taking green envelope with a couple of drawings on it from his pocket. 

“Just one?”

“Yeah, it was a busy week. She had that spelling contest, and, um, their teacher took them to the field trip, so. It’s all in the letter, I guess.”

“That’s great, man!” said Lawton, but his smile faltered just that much, and the teasing spark was gone from his eyes. Rick felt somehow unsettled, like he saw something he wasn’t supposed to. 

“I, erm, I’m sorry? It’s none of my business, really, but Zoe’s just as crazy about her dad as always, she just didn’t have much free time…”

“Wow, wow, Colonel, easy there. I’m not upset and ain’t gonna cry here because of this, just chill.”

It was weird and Rick didn’t know what to say next. Deadshot was a killer, but he loved his daughter like nothing else in the world, so he just wanted to make sure the man knew she loved him just as much. But Lawton went on talking, although it was seemingly hard for him and probably messed with his outlaw pride.

“I just, man, I miss her bad. She’s ma li’l girl, y’know?”

Now _that_ was awkward. Lawton looked miserable, as much as he could with his criminal face and usual either stoic or mocking expression. Rick’s brain short-circuited, so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“Did you like the pork?”

“What?”

“On Monday, they gave you pork with potatoes. Did you, um, did you like it? Was it good?”

“Yeah, that shit was like heaven-sent, why?”

“Nothing. I kinda made it myself, is all.”

Flag expected Lawton to laugh at him, make some sarcastic remark about him being a housewife, anything, really. What he didn’t expect was an even stranger look and simple ‘thanks’.

“Alright, so, I should get going now. Take care, Lawton,” he mumbled and almost ran to the chopper. It was the weirdest visit of Belle Reve so far, and not even a metahuman was to blame.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So much for the plot development and logic of characters' actions. But hey, here's some _stuff_ to make up for it.

Talking with Amanda Waller when you wanted something from her was tough. It wasn’t easy in general, since the woman was unpliable and required everything done her way, which it was in most cases. So three hours Rick Flag spent with her after the daily meeting weren’t particularly nice and lovely. He knew that his request was really uncalled for and basically too much to ask, but he was deliberate about the whole business and stood up for it. For once, it worked out.

\---

“Okay, so, here’s the deal.” 

The panel in the door lowered so rapidly that Deadshot didn’t even have the time to process what was going on. Rick just kept talking, loud and fast, like he really didn’t want to be interrupted.

“You have four hours with Zoe, public place, ten security guards, the chip in your neck still on, any attempt of anything – you’re out of the program, not a chance of leaving Belle Reve a second earlier than your term requires. Deal?”

“Am I seeing my girl again?”

For a couple of seconds two men were just looking at each other, blinking.

“Yes, Lawton, if you agree to what I just said. Do you agree?”

“I guess? Look, Flag, I don’t know what you did to trick the Devil Lady into this, but I really owe you one.”

“Yeah, whatever, I’ll come tomorrow.”

“I’ll be waiting, Colonel,” said Deadshot to already leaving Rick's back.

\---

There were things to be arranged. A good restaurant with as few people as possible (Rick’s treat), ten well-trained agents with enough weapons to take down Deadshot if necessary (Amanda’s treat) all dressed in civil clothes (Rick’s request). Everything was going well: Flag instructed the agents, talked to the restaurant’s manager, planned a route for the cortege. All he had to do was dress up himself and pick up Deadshot from Belle Reve. 

The day was full of running around, so he decided to take a quick shower first. All the things necessary for such operation were ready and laid on the bed, the pistol cleaned and work mobile fully charged. 

Rick came out of the bathroom with a towel around his hips, and opened the closet door. 

“So, the suit.”

The image of Lawton looking him up and down through the peephole suddenly came to mind. 

“Okay, the _suit_.” 

It wasn’t hard to choose what to wear. It had to be practical so the holster wouldn’t be obviously seen, not too simple because the restaurant was kind of fancy, and not too fancy because it was the job and not his date. Still, twenty minutes passed and he came up with literally nothing. 

“What the fuck,” he mumbled and went to the kitchen to make some coffee.

\---

Floyd Lawton was in such high spirits that no guard’s shit-talk could anger or provoke him. Seven people of Belle Reve Penitentiary’s personnel led him to the showers, then to the chopper waiting in the yard. On land there were three cars waiting. Rick was standing by the back door of the one in the middle, holding a big flat box.

“So, Colonel, watcha got for me?”

“Uncuff him, I take the further charge of the prisoner,” said Rick, not looking directly at Deadshot. The man rubbed at his wrists and smiled wide.

“What’s the plan, Flag?”

“Get in the car, Lawton.” Rick handed him the box. “Your clothes, just from the dry-cleaning. Yeah, shut up.”

“Oh, man.” Deadshot laughed.

\---

The ride was going smooth, no unpredicted stops or traffic jams on the way. Deadshot was changing in the backseat, Rick was not looking in the rearview mirror.

“So where are we going?”

“Now we’re picking Zoe up, then there’s this place downtown – and I’m not really good at this – but I’ve been told it’s pretty decent.”

“Wait, what? They let me pick my daughter up from school? For real?”

“Well, you’ll be at the gunpoint of a dozen agents, and I’ll go with you, so don’t try to mess this up.”

“Can I ask you something?”

Rick didn’t like where this was going.

“I guess.”

“What’s this all about? I thought I was done with my wish thing, what changed?”

Rick didn’t like where this was going at all.

“I just thought that this was the right thing to do. You saved the world, I think you deserve to see your family, at least like that.”

“Huh.”

The car stopped.

“Ready?”

“Always am, Colonel. Let’s go, getcha sweet ass outta here.”

“My fucking God,” whispered Rick to himself, getting around the car to open the back door. Zoe’s classes weren’t over for another ten minutes, and Deadshot wasn’t allowed to get away from the cortege until she showed, so they just stood there, side by side.

“Was the hat necessary?” Rick asked, looking at Lawton dressed up mostly in leather and _not_ being smug about his outfit even in the slightest. 

“That’s the look, man, it works that way.”

“I’m sure it does.”

“What, can’t you tell?”

The school bell rang, saving Rick from whatever was happening, and kids started pouring out of the main entrance. Deadshot went towards it, Flag still by his side. He could almost hear the triggers being pulled somewhere in the distance. 

Being pretty tall and fairly well-dressed, they were easy to spot, so Zoe ran to them immediately after leaving the building. 

“Daddy!” she yelled, crushing into Lawton and hugging him with all the force she had.

“Hello, li’l one. It’s so good to see you, oh man, I’ve missed you so much,” he said lovingly, getting on his knees to be the same height as her.

The scene didn’t go unnoticed and a woman in her fifties, supposedly Zoe’s teacher, started in their direction. Rick started to worry; talking to civilians wasn’t part of the plan.

“Hello, I’m Ms. Chester, Zoe’s teacher. And you must be Mr. Lawton, the dad?” She asked, looking at Deadshot with interest.

“Yes, miss, the dad indeed.” He didn’t time to say anything else; the woman was already turning to Flag.

“And I suppose that you are Zoe’s stepdad, is that correct?”

That was the most awkward and uncomfortable Colonel Richard Rogers Flag has even gotten. Lawton was probably having a burst of hysterical laughter deep inside, Zoe wasn’t far behind. But Rick was a soldier, so he knew that in critical situations you react fast and surely. Which he did.

“Yes, Ms. Chester, it’s pleasure to meet you.” 

Deadshot was hiding his face in Zoe’s hood, shaking just that far from noticeably. This had to be over as soon as possible.

“And we’re really sorry for not staying to talk about Zoe more, but we are in such a hurry right now.”

“Of course, sure, I’m not going to bother you any longer. Have a nice day!”

Lawton picked Zoe up, his face still half-hidden by her hood, and turned towards the car. Rick turned to go as well, but the woman caught his coat sleeve and looked into his eyes, smiling faintly.

“I’m sorry for putting it that way, without getting to know you any better, but you are such a good-looking couple!” said Ms. Chester quietly, now almost grinning.

“Thank you, Ms. Chester, I really appreciate the sentiment.”

\---

Deadshot and Zoe got into the car, Flag followed suit. The silence lasted approximately two seconds before the Lawtons started laughing their heads off. 

"Oh... Oh God, Flag... My husband in law... Love of my life!"

"Alright you people, stop that, you're not five." Rick was annoyed. He was an adult with serious job and all of this was so unnecessary.

"Come on, Colonel, no one asked you to play along, but you did, so you've got no one else to blame!"

By that time Zoe's laughter died down and she crawled to the seat closer to Rick.

"Thank you, Mr. Rick. I really appreciate that you didn't correct Ms. Chester," she said. "I mean, I'd love other kids to know that my dad is this badass sniper that never misses and saves the world on weekends, but he says that it should be a secret, so it's really nice of you not to tell her the truth."

Flag was so frustrated about the whole husbands thing he didn't even consider how it affected Zoe. Then Lawton had to chime in.

"Yeah, man, thanks for that. I mean it, thank you."

"It's fine. I just have the feeling that you Lawtons will make me go grey way before my time." Rick said, looking in the rearview mirror. Deadshot stared back, and it was probably due to a really busy day, but Flag thought his eyes looked strangely soft. He fixed his eyes on the road.

\---

The restaurant looked good and expensive. A man at the doors asked for their coats, patiently waiting while Deadshot helped Zoe with her jacket. When he stood up, Flag already handed his overcoat and was seemingly fixing one of the cufflinks. 

"Okay," said Lawton meaningfully, and looked the other man up and down. 

Rick chose dark blue suit that was hugging his body in all the right places, white shirt and black tie with slim silver pin. Overall look wasn't disappointing in the slightest. When he finished tinkering with his sleeve and turned his attention to Lawton, the man was obviously checking the back view. Flag cleared his throat.

"Shall we?"

Deadshot immediately shot his eyes up and smiled just that side of hungrily.

"Can I choose the table?" asked Zoe, looking at Rick pleadingly. 

"Of course, sit wherever you want."

All the agents were already in their places, sitting at the tables all over the restaurant. You could tell which ones of the visitors were civilians and which ones were undercover agents by the tension in their posture and slight bulges under the clothing where the holsters were. These were the people ready to fight.

Zoe went to the free table close to the window, Deadshot right behind her. Rick felt that damage has already been done and let his gaze wander down the other man's body. Then he mentally slapped himself and started towards the table next to the one Zoe chose. The girl seemed to not catch the concept.

"Mr. Rick, aren't you going to sit with us?" she asked, looking first at him, then at her father.

"Yeah, Colonel, come sit here." Lawton patted the chair between him and Zoe.

Rick stood up, still not sure about what was this whole evening, and sat down at the Lawtons' table.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to try as much as I can tonight," said Deadshot, looking not quite at the menu.

\---

The dinner was going well. Neither Rick nor Deadshot were allowed to drink alcohol, but the food was marvelous. Zoe chatted about the school, how Mr. Rick once helped her with algebra and how much she missed her daddy in everyday life. It felt strange for Flag not to feel strange in that situation. They were people he barely knew, and yet he didn't feel like a creep listening to something that he wasn't meant to hear. He felt like a close friend. It was nice, like Harkness talking about his family, or Harley singing quietly in her sweet voice, but maybe a bit more dangerous than that. 

After a couple of hours of chit-chatting, Deadshot quietly asked Rick if he could go to the restroom. Instructions were pretty strict, so they had to go together, no matter how much Flag didn't like the idea at the moment.

"Zoe, your dad and I will be right back, okay?"

"Yeah, sweetheart, and when I'm back, I wanna hear all about that archery team you joined," said Lawton, leaning down and kissing the daughter on the forehead.

\---

The restroom was empty and smelled surprisingly good. The second Rick closed the door, he was roughly pushed against it with another body.

"LAWTON!" he barked, to no effect.

Deadshot was still pinning him to the wooden surface, looking at him with wide eyes and doing pretty much nothing else.

"Why have you decided to wear this today?" he asked, emphasizing the word 'this' with a forceful tug on the belt. That was something Flag didn't expect.

“If you’re looking for my gun, I don’t have it.”

“It’s not that kind of a situation, Flag. And why would you not bring your gun to the mission?”

“For that exact reason,” said Rick, gesturing to their bodies squished together.

He didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable. Deadshot’s body was solid and warm against his, and also reacted to the closeness in a very certain way. Rick’d be lying if he said that his own didn’t. It was definitely not _any_ kind of situation. A minute passed, filled with heavying breathing and intense staring. Then Flag snapped.

“Oh, screw you,” he snarled and switched their positions. Maybe Deadshot was deadly in a fight, but Rick’s slightly bigger body had strength in it that was pretty hard to beat. 

It wasn’t much of a kiss. Or at least not a gentle one. Lawton answered fiercely, with a lot of teeth and just the right amount of tongue. Flag was keeping up, his hands reaching everywhere they could. 

“Y’know what, Colonel?” said Deadshot, breaking the kiss. 

“What do you wanna talk about _now_ , asshole?”

“Just wanted to tell you how good this suit fits you, is all.”

To make it clear what he was talking about, Lawton put his right hand on Rick’s ass and gave it a squeeze. The man instinctively tried to move away from the rough touch, only to crush his crotch against Deadshot's, which brought some reality into the situation. 

"Look, Lawton, as much as I enjoy being squeezed in places, we gotta keep it cool. Your kid's out there, you've got like hour and a half left, then you'll be back in your cell, so you really should spend this time with her."

"Totally, man," he answered, putting his hands away from Flag's body and into the pockets, turning to open the door. 

"Although I think we're gonna have a good ride back to the chopper, Lawton," said Rick, smiling devilishly.

"Just Floyd, man. Floyd is fine," answered Deadshot, leaving the restroom.

And it was going to be a hell of a ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, Deadshot's wearing this http://cdn04.cdn.justjared.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/smith-incostume/will-smith-spotted-in-costume-on-suicide-squad-set-01.jpg, Flag is wearing this http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/02/11/article-2556609-1B5FA6D900000578-151_634x936.jpg (plus the dark grey overcoat).  
> I am kinda sorry for this fic being so sappy and fluffy, but that's the way I like 'em.  
> I have a Tumblr http://greywcrens.tumblr.com, feel free to come by and say hi (or talk headcanons to me, 'm always up for that).


End file.
